Big East continues to discuss divisional alignments for 12-team conference in 2013

Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-LedgerRutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti and the rest of the conference awaits announcements on divisional alignments for 2013.

NEWPORT, R.I. — With so many critical issues facing the Big East these days, you’d think league officials could come to an agreement on something as simple as divisional alignments for the 12-team football conference in the fall of 2013.

But even that problem was left unresolved — along with all of the major issues — when the league broke from its annual summer football meetings Tuesday.

“We have not determined a divisional alignment yet,” said Nick Carparelli, the league’s associate commissioner for football. “We had further discussions Sunday. We have not reached a conclusion.”

Boise State, San Diego State, Houston, Memphis, SMU and Central Florida will join the league in fall 2013. All that has been settled so far is that the 2013 league championship game will be played at the campus of the highest-ranked divisional winner.

The search for a new commissioner, meanwhile, is ongoing, with interim commissioner Joe Bailey saying Tuesday the field had been narrowed to five candidates.

The other big concern is the league’s place in the new four-team national playoff format and what the conference’s future bowl tie-ins will be.

Negotiations on a new TV deal, the key to the Big East’s future, cannot begin until ESPN’s exclusive window starts Sept. 1. If no agreement is reached then, the league can essentially become a free agent in the TV market on Nov. 1.

It’s expected that the conference will begin more serious talks about new bowl tie-ins once the new TV deal is finalized.

• Pittsburgh running back Ray Graham said he will know more about his surgically repaired right knee when the Panthers start pre-season camp. The Elizabeth native (and younger brother of Rutgers linebacker Khaseem Greene) missed the final four games last year with a torn ACL.

He was still named to the all-Big East first team.

“The knee is doing good. I’m going to camp and we’ll take it from there,” he said.
Graham declined to put a percentage on how close he was to being fully healed.
“I’m going to go out there and I’m going to test it in camp before I put any percentage on it, and see where it is,” he said.